The American firm Liberty Media has confirmed its purchase of Formula 1 for £3.3bn with Bernie Ecclestone remaining as chief executive.

The deal comes after weeks of speculation with rumours the Italian Grand Prix would be Ecclestone's final race in charge of the sport.

Yesterday, the 85-year-old said he has been asked to remain involved in F1 for three years once the purchase had been officially confirmed.

With the F1 supremo staying in place, Chase Carey – current executive vice chairman of 21st Century Fox – has been instated as the new chairman replacing Peter Brabeck-Letmathe.

The new ownership sees equity firm CVC Capital Partners sell its controlling share of the sport to Liberty Media headed by US television mogul John Malone.

Liberty Media, who also own several sports and media companies including the Atlanta Braves in Major League Baseball, will initially purchase a minority stake in F1 (estimated at £559m) before a full takeover is given the green light by regulators approving the deal.

Once the full deal is completed, Liberty Media will become the majority shareholder with 35.5% while CVC will retain a 24.7% share.

The total buyout is estimated to be at £6bn which includes the £3.1bn debt F1 current carries.

"We are excited to become part of Formula One," Greg Maffei, chief executive of Liberty Media, said. "We think our long-term perspective and expertise with media and sports assets will allow us to be good stewards of Formula One and benefit fans, teams and our shareholders."

"I would like to welcome Liberty Media and Chase Carey to Formula One and I look forward to working with them,” Ecclestone said.

Liberty Media President and CEO Greg Maffei added: "We think our long-term perspective and expertise with media and sports assets will allow us to be good stewards of F1 and benefit fans, teams and our shareholders.

"We look forward to working closely with Chase Carey and Bernie Ecclestone to support the next phase of growth for this hugely popular global sport."

To me the most surprising thing is that the F1 is carrying £3.1 in debt. I have had to send things to MLB PR campaigns and the Braves in ATL and Liberty runs a tight ship.
They have a very impressive list of holdings worldwide.

To me the most surprising thing is that the F1 is carrying £3.1 in debt. I have had to send things to MLB PR campaigns and the Braves in ATL and Liberty runs a tight ship.
They have a very impressive list of holdings worldwide.

CVC loaded the company up with debt when they probably had an eye on Sauber and Force India's complaint before the European Parliament re EU anto competition laws. They still made out like bandits (like bandits?). Force India, Sauber file complaint to EU authorities | Reuters
CVC will be happy, because they'll likely be allowed to keep the loot, the EU commissioner will be glad to not have to deal with the issue because there are now new owners, and the new owners will have to come up with a more equitable distribution of money between the teams, and it will probably be the end of most so called extra 'historical bonuses.' Ferrari received $105 mio (out of an estimated $192 mio total). Formula 1 team payments for 2016 revealed - F1 - Autosport

Liberty's appointment of managerial heavy weight Chase Carey to run the for him comparatively 'small' business says it all.

Going back in time, I wouldn't be surprised if Bernie didn't see a potential exposure / calamity hanging over his head when he divested his shares to CVC.
Later we saw the German lawsuit vs Bernie which saw the banker involved in the deal go to jail (he probably can expect a nice chunk of $ from Bernie when he gets out). There were also Bernies issues with the UK taxman, which he settled out of court.
Bernie is definitely one smart cookie.
He created a lot of value. The FIA's 1% share originally worth $458.000 is now valued at $44 mio.